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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Chile-Lime Salmon Tacos

Summer's on its way, and it's taunting me! Lately the weather drops within a day from 80 degrees and sunny down to 40 degrees with rain and sleet, and the chilly weather just makes me want to curl up in a ball on the couch, read books, and take naps. I want the warmth to come and hang out for a while so I can get outside, feel the sun on my arms, and get a little color on my winter-white skin.

And with summer comes summery food, like fish tacos. Jamie loves fish tacos, and I love salmon. Well, we both do. We have salmon pretty much every week, and we make fish tacos for dinner a couple times a month, usually with some type of white fish like cod or catfish and fresh cabbage slaw. (My man is so creative that when we ran out of mayo to add to the slaw, what did he do? Well, he made some of course!)

So, this week, I thought why not combine the two? Tonight I wanted something a little different from the typical fish/slaw combo, something fresh and healthy with lots of flavor. For all of you out there who try to eat healthy, you know it's a lot more expensive to buy lots of lean protein and veggies than subsisting on a diet of Totinos Party Pizzas is. And salmon is particularly expensive, but I just can't make myself cross it off the grocery list. (I'll admit, though, that I actually like how those party pizzas taste--plus they only cost a dollar, so how can you beat that?)

For our variation of fish tacos tonight, Jamie seasoned a piece of salmon with chili powder, lime juice, salt and pepper, and seared it in a skillet, for just a few minutes on each side, to the perfect medium-rare doneness that salmon should always be served at. A fresh ear of corn got rubbed with a little olive oil, charred on a cast-iron grill pan, and then sliced off the cob. Mango, avocado, tomato, and green onion made a lovely and fresh salsa, seasoned only with salt, pepper, lime zest and a squeeze of lime juice.

Wrapped up in a whole-wheat tortilla it was delicious! I did wish it had a little more crunch, though, so next time I'll add a little red cabbage, or some fried strips or tortillas to give it a finishing touch.

Heat a cast-iron grill pan on medium-high heat. Remove the husk and silk from the corn, rub with 1 Tbs olive oil, and char on the grill pan until corn is cooked. When corn is nicely charred, allow to cool for several minutes before slicing off the cob.

Meanwhile, make the salsa. Dice the avocado, mango, tomato and scallions. Add the zest and juice of one lime, and season mixture with salt and pepper, and set salsa aside.

Remove the skin from the salmon. Season with additional lime juice, salt, pepper and chili powder.

Heat 1 Tbs olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Cook the salmon for 3-4 minutes on each side, until the outside is seared, and the center is a pink medium-rare doneness.

Finally, assemble your tacos with some flaked salmon, a spoonful of salsa, freshly charred corn kernels, and shredded cabbage. If desired, you can also add a sprinkling of shredded jack cheese.